Fascinating
history of military occupation
in Vintondale, Colver, during '22 strike

Letter
No. 268 | November 11, 2001

My brother
and I have continued our research on the Colver
Home Page (http://home.earthlink.net/~hilltj) and I thought I
would drop you a note with some new "stuff" we found.

In the Bituminous Coal Strike of 1922, we found that the Pennsylvania
Militia was called out and that on July 25, 1922, both Colver and
Vintondale were occupied by the National Guard Troops. Colver was
occupied by Troop A, First Squadron of the 104th Cavalry, a horse-mounted
unit, and Vintondale was occupied by Troop A, First Squadron of
the 52nd Machine Gun Battalion. Trucks of the 110th Motor Transport
Company were used to mount machine guns for mechanized patrols (one
was given to the mounted troops). The First Squadron, 104th Cav
Headquarters was 2 miles South of Ebensburg.

The Colver Troops were from New Castle, Pennsylvania, and the Vintondale
Troops were from Bellefonte. A few Colver residents (in their late
80's) recall it as the "Soldiers and the Horses." The intent was
to station troops throughout Cambria, Indiana, Somerset, and Westmoreland
Counties so that any region could be reached in 45 minutes by the
troops.

It appears that the Vintondale troops were recalled about the end
of August, but the Colver troops remained until September 8. The
troops made mechanized patrols at least twice a day, as well as
horse-mounted patrols between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. As
part of their training, they would make marches thoughout the area,
mentioning in their dispaches riding to Nanty Glo and to Vintondale
(after the 52 Machine Gun Squadron was recalled).

The troopers from New Castle felt that they were stationed on the
top of the world and that the views they were afforded in the area
rivaled any that could be found in Europe. These boys were well
traveled. One group was at the Mexican Border in 1916, chasing Pancho
Villa, and about a quarter of them were World War I veterans, so
they had something to compare the sights with. At the same time,
they complained about the hills they had to ride over. They were
also cold; in August they sent back to New Castle to get wool blankets
and overcoats.

Anyway, maybe you could put out a note to see if anybody knows
anybody in their late 80's who might remember these days.

Webmaster's note: If anyone in the area has contact
with people of that generation, please see if you can find out what
they remember of the strike and occupation, and relay it to us.
Jon Kennedy, webmaster